


Why'd You Have to be so Brave?

by lynisqueen



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Amputation, Anxiety Disorder, IREPEAT, LEGAL AGE GLORIA, LEGAL AGED GLORIA, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery, Trauma, amputee gloria, can u tell i made gloria kinda self insert-y, chapters are gonna be short enough, eventually, for now, good big sis nessa, good times ik, guilty leon and raihan, haha get it bc im currently in a slightly better mentaql state, not a vent fic for once, ok ill stop venting in the tags now, rly stress out with school and only write as a coping mechanism :'), she's aged up dw, the gym leaders are glor's fam bc her mom is dead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22354399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynisqueen/pseuds/lynisqueen
Summary: Gloria bit off more than she could chew during the Eternatus fight, and in a last-ditch effort to protect Leon and Hop, loses an arm.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan, Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan/Yuuri | Gloria, Dande | Leon/Yuuri | Gloria, Kibana | Raihan/Yuuri | Gloria
Comments: 2
Kudos: 138





	1. aftermath

Gloria remembers the start of her journey. Her mother had told her it gets easier as it goes along, that you get the hang of it after awhile. She had told her that one day she would have the world in her hands. Funny, how that’s exactly what she ended up losing. (she also found it funny how that was one of the only things her mother ever said to her.) 

Eternatus took the Galar region by storm. Literally - it caused a massive storm. Everyone wanted to know how the brave gym challenger defeated and captured the Pokemon that was meant to cause such widespread destruction. Everyone wanted to know how she was doing after. Yeah, no, just peachy. Lost an arm but caught a pretty cool looking new friend. Fair fucking trade, if you’d ask her.

She clenched her fist into the fabric of her pink dress, holding back the tears that sting her eyes. She needed to pull herself together. A few of the gym leaders were coming to visit her soon. And Leon. God, how was she going to fucking face Leon and Raihan? They hadn’t even come to visit her while she was in hospital. A warm feeling spread through her stomach as she saw that her Alcremie had brought itself out of the pokeball. It’s short arms wrapped themselves around her waist and provided as much comfort as she could,

She brought Alcremie up to sit on her shoulder. Tiny Alcremie didn’t weigh a thing, after all. Gloria’s eyes wandered to the corner of the room, where a heavily locked safe sat. The safe that held the dusk ball containing Eternatus. She bought the safe and the extra locks days after the incident. What if it got out? How would she stop it again? Would she even be able to? She didn’t think so, if she was being honest. This whole experience left her with enough trauma to last a lifetime or two.

A knock that sounded waaay too loud and formal resounded at her front door. She opened it, seeing Milo, Nessa and Kabu. Ah, the fearsome threesome. Of course they would visit her together. She inspected them. Milo was dressed much more… formal than he usually was. He was in jeans and a hoodie. Kind of off-putting to see him in anything but his shorts and t-shirt. Nessa’s hair was slightly tousled but other than that she looked as perfect as ever. Kabu, however, looked terrible. Gloria acknowledged that was rich coming from her, but still. Kabu had taken quite an important role in her life. After he had heard about her often times absent mother, he had gone to every single one of her matches and congratulated her after each one. The other challengers could wait, he had to go visit his kid. She empathizes with him, seeing someone you care about in a lot of distress is sure to stress you out just as much.

“Would you like to come in?” Her voice was hoarse from not being used. Kabu’s brow furrowed more. Gloria stepped to the side slightly to let them all in. They entered and took a seat in her living room. She had laid out drinks and snacks for them in advance, knowing it would take her quite some time with her new… situation. Milo cleared his throat softly.

“So, how are you - ah - adjusting? Er, no. Doing. How are you doing?” Gloria wanted to give him a sympathetic look but she couldn’t because she just realized she couldn’t  _ feel _ . Like at all. Well that can’t be healthy.

She must have stared at him for quite some time, because the next thing she knew, Kabu had an arm wrapped around her now trembling figure. When did she start shaking? 

“Gloria, what’s happening?” He asked her gently. He was so close but yet he sounded so distant. It felt they had walked away even though they were still crouched down in front of her. She shook her head and shut her eyes tightly. She felt Milo’s strong arms keep her steady, Nessa and Kabu were on either side of her, running hands up and down her arm and shoulders, stroking her hair. Alcremie seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Or her Pokeball, Gloria chastised herself for being needlessly dramatic.

She asked her painfully kind guests to leave. She didn’t want to seem rude, after they had gone the extra mile to stay and comfort her, but she had had enough of people. Kabu and Milo each gave her lingering hugs that  _ burned  _ her. Nessa, who had been unusually quiet for the duration of their stay, waited until the boys went outside. She pressed a soft kiss to the crown of her head.

“You need anything honey, you know where to call. Whether you want to go out to eat or you’re having anxiety attack or you want to get away for even a few fucking days - you come down to Hulbury and I’ll take care of you, yeah?” Nessa gripped her shoulders tightly, looking Gloria dead in the eye.

“Of course. Thank you.” Voice still dry and crackly, Gloria blinked back her tears and managed to give Nessa her first real smile in a while.


	2. the fear (or lack thereof) of falling apart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhhhhhhhhh

God hated Gloria. Maybe not Arceus, or Jesus, or Sothis - no, whatever sick God that was watching over her personally just despised her. 

The hours after the Kabu, Milo and Nessa left seemed to pass within the blink of an eye. She felt as though she blinked and suddenly a familiar harsh banging resounded through her whole home. Raihan, obviously. He was the only person who knocked like that. She knew he always knocked like that, so why did her stomach drop completely when she heard it? Why was she suddenly so nauseous? Why did she feel the need to vomit? Oh God, she was right. He was mad, she deduced. He was mad at her. Oh Go-

“Uh, Gloria, we kinda know you’re in there.” Leon’s voice sounded awkward and scared. Why was he scared? She forced herself swallowed, albeit roughly and hobbled over to the door for the second time.

She let them in without a word. She found that her throat was closing up and she was finding it difficult to breathe. Still, she mustered up a shaky smile and sent it their way before letting them in her home. She made for the kitchen while the boys headed for the living room but was stopped by Leon grabbing her wrist very gently.

“How about we talk first, yeah?” The voice he used was gentle, soft. As if he was talking to a scared, injured animal - and in hindsight she certainly felt like one. She nodded without making a sound, following him into the living room obediently. She made for the seat across from the couch - where her strangely silent partner sat and watched her with the eyes of a skilled dragon master, watching her for her posture, ready to listen for her tone, trying to work out if she was open or closed off and what he could do to fix it - but when Raihan spread his arms open and suddenly he looked so warm and inviting and she felt so cold. She nearly jumped into them.

He pressed a firm kiss on her temple. It was reassuring but it brought back that burning sensation. Leon sat on her other side and she almost felt like everything was OK. He closed the distance on his end and everything felt a little more OK. This was good, she shut her eyes tightly and told herself over and over again, forcing out breaths she didn’t even realise she was holding in. She felt a steady tempo by her remaining hand and waited while her heart began following it, finally allowing the tension to disappear from her shoulders and neck. 

She opened her eyes again and she found herself safe in Leon’s lap, his arms wrapped comfortingly around her. He hand was on Raihan’s chest, right by his heart. He was steadying her, they were steadying her. This was good. This was OK.

“Glory, we’re sorry we didn’t visit.” The words tumbled from Raihan’s mouth before he had time to properly process them.

“‘S alright.” Gloria whispered, barely able to get words through her throat.

“No, it’s not, love. It’s really not. You’re upset by it, and that’s alright. We messed up.” Leon’s voice was quiet and shaking.

“I was just… hard for us, I guess. Ya know, Glory, you were the strongest trainer we had seen in so long. We didn’t even think twice about sending you out to fix that Eternatus mess for us. You were hurt real bad because of us. Gloria, it’s our fault you lost your ar-” Raihan little speech was interrupted.

“Stop, stop, stop. You can’t… No, you can’t do that. You’re not allowed to blame yourself for this,” she gestured wildly to the stump on her right side, “It’s not fair, Rai. This was no-one’s fault. It wasn’t even mine and I wanted to go. To help Galar.” The lump in throat was back as tears welled up in her eyes.

Then she heard Leon choke on a sob. Which in turn made the tears she tried to blink back rapidly stream down her face. Which snowballed onto Raihan weeping himself and before they knew it, they were a mess of arms, legs and hair - All piled on each other. Clinging to each other in a last ditch to hold themselves together, for fear of falling apart completely. Gloria found herself being terrified of the thought of being unable to pick herself back up. She found herself taking harsh gasps as the boys attempted to stop her hyperventilation.

Leon wrenched his eyes shut and found himself holding onto a hope that someday this would be far behind them. That all this pain and suffering would soon come to an end. That Raihan, who looked so utterly exhausted, would finally be able to get a wink of sleep. That Gloria, who looked and undoubtedly felt so small, would be able to grow from this experience and learn from it. This isn’t her first time dealing with trauma. He, Rai, and Kabu once had a rather serious conversation about her behavior and mannerisms during the beginning of her challenge. It was there he learned that her mom was so absent she may as well have been a fucking orphan.

Leon always had been a wishful thinker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha im sad now


End file.
